Children of the Zodiac
For centuries people have been fascinated by the signs of the Eastern Zodiac. For most, it’s just a conversation topic found on place mats in Chinese restaurants. However, for a few others…the very zodiac is a part of them. Quick Facts *Title: Children of the Zodiac *Genres: Fantasy, Modern, Slice-of-Life *Major Characters: Ami Takeda, Shibuya *Places: The Complex; Hachiko Statue in Shibuya, Japan Plot There is a legend that once every 12 years the animals of the Chinese zodiac would begin to manifest themselves in 12 children. That’s not to say that the children would become the animals, but more that they would embody the characteristics of that animal as well as a certain element and ability fitting of whichever animal they are. A black market organization, under the guise of a big company, decided that they would find these children and train them to be weapons. After searching for a few years, they managed to get a hold of the ox, the twin tigers, the snake, the horse, the sheep, the monkey, the rooster, and the pig. They simple couldn’t find the remaining four, so they began training and conditioning the ones they had. However, three years later a mysterious fire broke out in the complex and allowed four of the kids to escape and go into hiding. With one tiger, the rooster, the snake, the pig, and the ox remaining; the organization decided to amp up the program so that once the training was complete their young “warriors” could go find the rest, including the ones that they couldn’t find before. They intended on using one of two sets of jade zodiac figurines to locate the others, the other set belonging to and unknown individual, to locate the missing members of the zodiac. A particular figure would glow as it neared the corresponding individual, before finally presenting whichever element the individual had when touched by the person. (For example the dragon’s figure would burst into flames, but not burn up, in the hands of the dragon.) Organization Headquarters The captive members of the zodiac are kept in an underground “school” located beneath the office building that is basically a headquarters for the organization. The zodiacs are allowed to leave their cells (their similar to dorm rooms really), and attend some mandatory classes in addition to training and possible conditioning (i.e. brainwashing type of things). When they aren’t doing the above, they’re allowed to relax and hang out in their rooms or anywhere in the complex. There is a strict curfew and no one is allowed to leave the underground without an escort. The Zodiac Rat *Element: Wood *Elemental Ability: Making plants grow, reviving dead or sick plants. *Ability: Animation (Bringing inanimate objects to life, or restoring petrified objects) Ox *Element: Earth *Elemental Ability: Moving rocks and boulders, causing earthquakes; etc. *Ability: Increased Strength (Pretty self-explanatory) Tiger *Element: Light and Dark (Normally presented as twins) *Elemental Ability: Manipulating light and shadows. *Ability: Inner-balance Rabbit *Element: Space *Elemental Abilities: Mainly teleportation. *Ability: Increased Speed (Self-explanatory, but can’t maintain high speeds for extended amounts of time.) Dragon *Element: Fire *Elemental Abilities: Manipulating existing fire and flames. *Ability: Combustion (Can set things on fire or make fire from limited resources.) Snake *Element: Metal *Elemental Abilities: Manipulate and move metals *Ability: Invisibility (Again, self-explanatory) Horse *Element: Water *Elemental Abilities: Manipulating water in its most basic form; includes rain, ocean waves, etc.) *Ability: Healing (Fully heal minor wounds and illnesses; more serious things take longer and more energy.) Sheep *Element: Ice *Elemental Abilities: Creating and manipulating ice and other frozen liquids *Ability: Astral Projection Monkey *Element: Illusion *Elemental Abilities: Can create illusions and cause hallucinations *Ability: Shapeshifting Rooster *Element: Wind *Elemental Abilities: Whipping up gusts of wind, can create small tornadoes. *Ability: Levitation Dog *Element: Time *Elemental Abilities: Freezing time for short period (The dog is unaffected and can choose who is affected) *Ability: Immortality Pig *Element: Thunder *Elemental Abilities: Ability to control lightning and forms of electricity *Ability: Heat Vision (Can see shapes as heat and project beams of heat from their eyes)